Pictures
by Emi-Chan1
Summary: This is one fic that I'm particularly proud of. It gives us a little glimpse into Peggy's past and what her husband might have been like.


This is one of my longer fics ... if you don't count the ones that have more than one part. I'm very proud of it :)  
  
  
Peggy heard a knock at her door. She got up from her usual spot on the balcony to see who was there.  
  
"Declan!" she said as she stepped aside to let him in. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I just thought I'd come by to make sure you were all right." Declan said with a smile. "I haven't seen you in ..." he paused to calculate, "three days."  
  
Peggy laughed. "I'm fine, Declan."  
  
The teapot's whistle interrupted the conversation and reminded Peggy that she had heated water for tea ten minutes before because it had been particularly chilly that evening.  
  
"Do you want some tea?" Peggy asked.  
  
"Sure. That sounds good." Declan replied, "What kind is it?"  
  
Peggy shrugged. "It's just ... regular tea."  
  
"Sounds great." Declan said.   
  
"Go ahead and have a seat out on the balcony. I'll be out there in just a minute."  
  
Peggy then proceeded to go to the kitchen and turn off the stove, causing the whistle to lower steadily, then vanish completely.  
  
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^  
  
Every time Declan saw the view from Peggy's balcony, it was always different. Now that it was early fall, he could see quite a few of the trees changing colors, so that brilliant reds and yellows mixed in with the green landscape. The sky was clear and it had almost a purplish tint to it.  
  
"Do you like sugar with your tea?" he heard Peggy's voice came from the kitchen.  
  
"Yes, please." he called back as he settled into one of the chairs.  
  
About a minute later, Peggy walked carefully onto the balcony, balancing a tray in her hands.  
  
"It's beautiful out here with the leaves changing." Declan commented as he scooped three heaping spoonfuls of sugar into his cup of tea.  
  
"Yes, I love the view in the fall." Peggy agreed.  
  
They sat in silence for a few moments, each sipping the hot tea and looking out at the landscape.  
  
"You know, I never did get a chance to show you a picture of my husband." Peggy brought up abruptly.  
  
"Well," Declan started cautiously, "you don't have to if ..."  
  
"You're the one who asked me in the first place." Peggy smiled as she got up from her chair and went back into the house.  
  
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^  
  
Peggy wasn't quite sure why she remembered at that moment that Declan had asked to see a picture of her husband. Maybe it was because he had asked her about it when he had come to her house before. Whatever it was, she now found herself going through her photo album with Declan.  
  
"When were these pictures taken?" Declan asked her.  
  
"On our fifth anniversary." Peggy said.  
  
"Really?"  
  
Peggy smiled reflectively. "Yeah. He wanted us to have a proper picture of the two of us ... you know ... besides the wedding pictures."  
  
Declan nodded. "So how long were you married before ..." he trailed off and obviously looked like he wanted to stuff his foot in his mouth.  
  
"Six and a half years." Peggy said, "Our ninth anniversary would have been last month. I remember I insisted that we not get married until I was out of medical school because I wanted at least one of us to have a job first."  
  
"What did he do?" Declan asked, looking a little more comfortable.  
  
"He was a psychiatrist ... just like me," Peggy answered, "but he had been an art major for three years before switching to psychiatry."  
  
"Really? An artist?" Declan sounded a little surprised.  
  
"Yes, He did just about everything ... watercolor, pastels, sculpture ... he even made a wood carving once. It was amazing to see him at work. He was just so ... into it ... so involved in what he was creating ..." she trailed off, remembering what it was like to watch him. She remembered sitting at a chair in the corner of the room and seeing him make a masterpiece out of what had been a lump of clay or a blank canvas.  
  
"Yeah, I can imagine." Declan's voice brought her back to reality.  
  
Peggy nodded. "I actually met him back in college when all of the art majors had an exhibition. I remember that the first piece of art I was attracted to was one of his sculptures. It was one of those abstract pieces that you have to interpret on your own ..."  
  
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^  
  
The sculpture captivated her ... the curves, the upward spirals, and in the middle, a figure that almost looked like a hand reaching up.  
  
She started to walk around it, trying to get a better view. Strangely enough, it looked a little bit different from every angle. It had little surprise details that she hadn't expected to be there, but it all seemed to have the same message.  
  
"So what do you think it means?" Peggy was startled to find someone next to her.  
  
She thought for a moment. "I'm not quite sure ... it looks ... well ... it kind of looks like it represents ... hope."  
  
He smiled. He had a nice smile. "That's exactly what I wanted it to represent."  
  
"Oh ... you made this?" Peggy asked in surprise.  
  
"Yes," he replied, "one of my better works ... at least in my opinion. It took me weeks to make this."  
  
"I can imagine ..." Peggy said.  
  
"I'm Adam Fowler." he said, holding out his had toward her.  
  
"Peggy Henderson." she responded accepting his hand.  
  
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^  
  
Declan drank the last of his tea, which had started to cool down.  
  
"So that's how I met him." Peggy finished her story.  
  
"He sounds like he was really nice." Declan said the only thing he could think of to say.  
  
Peggy nodded. "Yeah."  
  
"Well, I should probably get going." Declan said.  
  
"Working on your latest investigation?" Peggy asked with a laugh.  
  
"Actually, yes. Miranda called me and said she found something, and I have to go meet her at her lab. I was just going to stop by here on my way."  
  
"Then you probably *should* get going." Peggy replied.  
  
"I'll call you later to fill you in on the details." Declan said as he stood up from his chair.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Thanks for the tea."  
  
"No problem."  
  
"Bye."  
  
"Good-bye, Declan."  
  
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^  
  
Peggy stepped into Adam's workshop. She hadn't been here in months, and she hadn't changed anything since he died. She had always teased Adam that this room was the only room in the entire house that wasn't immaculate. Adam always laughed and said that artists, by nature, were always messy, and even though he had become a psychiatrist, he was still an artist at heart.  
  
On the other side of the room, there was an easel that held the picture he was working on just before he died ... a portrait of Peggy. There was a stool on either side of the easel. The one in front was the one he sat in, and the one behind the easel was the one she sat in when she modeled for him. She could still remember it very clearly.  
  
She walked across the room, sat down on the stool and closed her eyes.  
  
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^  
  
"Okay, now hold still." Adam said as he looked over the canvas at her.  
  
Peggy immediately stopped moving.  
  
"Look up at me. I need to see those beautiful eyes of yours."  
  
Peggy smiled and looked straight at him.  
  
"That's it." he said as his pencil scratched noisily on the canvas.  
  
"Exactly how long is this going to take?" Peggy asked, still trying her best not to move too much.  
  
"Just a few more minutes." he said, his eyes darting from Peggy down to the canvas and back up again.  
  
She was silent for the rest of the time. She just watched him at work. It really was amazing. It was like he was in his own world, his eyes focusing on each line he made. She couldn't see his drawing, but she could tell by the look on his face that it was beautiful.  
  
"Okay. The skech is done." he said happily as he picked up an assortment of different colored paints, a paintbrush, and his palette, and began experimenting with different shades.  
  
Peggy stepped off her stool and walked around the easel to his side. She looked at the canvas and saw a pencil version of herself staring back at her.  
  
"How in the world do you do this?" Peggy asked.  
  
Adam shrugged. "It's not that hard," he said as he shaded in one of her eyes with a dark brown paint, "especially when I have someone this beautiful to work with." He flashed a smile in her direction.  
  
Peggy smiled back.  
  
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^  
  
It took Peggy a moment to realize that the phone was ringing. She quickly climbed up the stairs and picked up her phone from it's station on a table in her living room.  
  
"Hello?" she said into the receiver.  
  
"Hey Peg," Declan's voice came over the phone, "I told you I'd call you."  
  
Peggy smiled. "So what's the mystery this time?" she asked.  
  
"A haunted bed and breakfast." Declan answered in a hushed tone, trying to sound scary.  
  
Peggy had to stifle a laugh. "Really?"  
  
"Yeah. It's said to be haunted by the three-year-old daughter of the family that lived there over a hundred years ago."  
  
"Ah," Peggy said, "so are you going to set up all the equipment and scare yourselves up a ghost?"  
  
Declan laughed. "Am I that predictable?"  
  
There was a pause for a second.  
  
"You're coming with us, right?" Declan asked in a hopeful tone.  
  
"Of course." Peggy answered.  
  
"Great!" he said enthusiastically, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"See you then."  
  
"Bye."  
  
Peggy hung up the phone and sat back in her couch. Sure, she made fun of Declan and his 'mysteries' a lot, but truthfully, she had become just as interested as he was. She wasn't quite sure why she was so captivated by Declan's search for the unknown. He was just so involved ... so *into* what he was doing.  
  
It was really amazing to see him at work.  
  
  
Hmmm ... do we see a connection here? Don't ask me how this fic idea got into my head. They just seem to appear out of nowhere. But anyways. Hope you liked it :) As always, I love feedback, so please don't hesitate in writing it! 


End file.
